Metroid: Dark Space
by Spaceballs
Summary: Crossover between the Metroid and System Shock series. Both series belong to their respective owners.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

Deep within the void of space, rotating around a distant sun, they waited, conjoined, as they drifted as if for all eternity. They had been abandoned long ago by their creators, and now, with both their builders and crews longs dead, they lay forgotten and had since fallen deeply into disrepair during the span of many centuries that had passed since human eyes had last lain their sights upon them.

One of them, the _Von Braun_, was once regarded as the height of human achievement. Since its abandonment ages ago it could now be considered, at most, a relic from a time-gone bye. As it now floated through the cold depths of space, it was hard to imagine that it had once held the fate of the universe within its construction.

Its smaller companion, the _Rickenbacker_, was once an advanced military ship before certain events saw to it that it would never function again, at least for humans, that is. It was now permanently attached to its 'better' via a large fossilized growth of biomass belonging to a long dead species that once almost proved a major threat to humanity before it had been stopped, or so it was believed.

They both now lay in orbit, forever destined to be forgotten, or would have been, had not the endeavors of humans once again brought them within their sights. For all their advances, they had remained ignorant to the mistakes of forefathers and would thus continue to venture into the foreboding unknown, whether they should have or not, and because of this, they were about to reawaken a long forgotten evil.

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It all began with a simple navigation error. The Galactic Federation ship, the _Aaru_, had been traveling along a hyperspace route during a routine patrol when its navigational computers malfunctioned, forcing the Olympus-class battleship to rely on sub-light engines till repairs were made, or else risk crashing into space debris and likes, something that could be potentially devastating at the speeds it had been moving at.

It was then that the ships long range sensors picked up a large ship of unknown origins. Knowing his duty, the ship's captain, Diosa Richards, sent a coded message back to command detailing their location and current events. Receiving orders to investigate the ship, they moved within range of it so that detailed scans could be taken of it.

As the _Aaru_ came within range of the source, its crew soon realized that what had at first been mistaken for a particularly large ship was in fact a pair of smaller ones conjoined by some strange matter that their sensors indicated was of unknown biological origin. Their sensors also detected unusual biological readings coming from within the larger of the two ships, though its thick hull scrambled most of their readings.

It was decided by the ship's Aurora Unit that a boarding party would be sent aboard, but it was quickly discovered that due to the great age of the ships their hangars were not designed to hold boarding ships of the GF's size and design. This development thus required a more risky solution; they would have to directly connect both ships.

Within the hour the _Aaru_ had connected itself directly to the _Von Braun_, and a boarding party was already making its way aboard it. Their task was to first secure the two ships and reinitiate the ships power systems before finally locating the source of the biosignatures. They had no idea of what unspeakable horrors they were about to unleash upon the galaxy.

----------------

**3 days later.**

Panting and running down a bloodstained hallway, a pair of marines were attempting to escape an unseen foe. As the lights in the hallway behind them flickered on and off before going out, hiding whatever was after them from sight, though its bloodcurdling roars echoed forward as it was quickly closing the distance between itself and them.

One of the marines tripped on a broken pipe, and before he could get back onto his feet, something from within the confines of the shadows latched onto his leg and dragged him back into the darkness where his horrified screams where cut short by the sound of metal and bones breaking.

The other marine paid little attention to this, so overcome with fear was, and merely turned around to fire off a few rounds at his unseen pursuer. Whatever it was seemed to shrug off the attack effortlessly, and then continued to charge after him. Its blood curdling roars continued to echo forth, and just as it was upon the marine he hit a panel beside him, causing a thick steel door to slide down between them instantly.

Turning around, the marine saw something that caused his blood to run cold. He and his partner had headed for this area due to the maps they carried indicated that the ships escape pods were located here. They were gone... and he was trapped. A sudden crash caused him to turn towards the sealed door as something struck against it.

Putting his back to the wall, the horrified marine slowly raised his weapon as he cowered in the corner of the sealed in room. The door before him was suddenly dented inwards as whatever was on the other side pounded upon it with an animalistic fury. Overcome with an intense, primal fear, the marine watched on in horror as the door was slowly torn apart piece by piece. He knew they were coming for him, and that nothing was going to stop this now. Slowly raising his weapon towards his head, a thought occurred to him. He knew now that they would not have him... he was going to deny them that pleasure.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

**1 week later.**

The _Aaru_, still attached to the _Von Braun_, floated through space. One could almost describe this scene almost as a peaceful one had they not known what horrors had occurred upon it. Communications with the Galactic Federation had ended almost within hours of the boarding parties arrival upon the derelict ship, enough time to warrant concern from its makers. Since this time not much had changed save for one thing; the _Rickenbacker_ was gone, and in its place only fragments of still smoldering wreckage and fossilized biomass remained.

The higher members within the Galactic Federation military had first become worried when the _Aaru_'s Aurora Unit, designated 502, failed to reestablish communications within 24 hours of making contact with the unregistered ships. At first believing that a communications error may have occurred, they waited an addition three more days, plenty of time they believed for the crew to fix whatever problem could have occurred. When the unit once again failed to make its report or even reply to messages sent to it, they knew that something must have happened to it and the ship.

No Federation ships were within jumping range, nor could any be spared for another two weeks. However, someone highly trusted by the Federation was finishing up a mission on their behalf and was only a few days distance away from the ship. The bounty hunter had saved the Federation several times in the past, and they knew that if anyone could find out what happened to the _Aaru_, she could.

------------------

**3 days later.**

A small ship, colored orange and slightly resembling the helmet of its owner, appeared before the _Von Braun_, which overshadowed it alongside its newfound companion. The sudden awe-inspiring sight as the ships eclipsed the sun, at least from the smaller ships point of view, was enough to keep its owner silent for a few moments.

Coming back to her senses, she quickly recalled what the mission had required of her. Known as Samus Aran, she was held as a hero of the Galactic Federation and a foe of the Space Pirates, a ruthless group of aliens that had until recently been commanded by the late Mother Brain and her second in command, the now in hiding Ridley.

From what she had been told, the GF ship the _Aaru_ had encountered a pair of unknown conjoined ships of human origin. It had boarded both ships, and when the time came for it to report back to command, no reply came from either the Aurora Unit or the men aboard. The GF had now tasked her with attempting to find out what had happened and then report her findings.

When she first heard of what had happened, she assumed that perhaps Space Pirates had ambushed the ship, despite its size and armaments, though now she was not so sure. The ship seemed to be completely intact, and no telltale signs of ship-to-ship combat, such as scorches and burns, could be seen. She noted that the ships power appeared to be at minimum levels, and scans indicated that life support had been for the most part powered down, an unusual thing seeing as most of the crew aboard the ship were not equipped nor prepared to survive for extended periods of time without it.

Bringing her ship, a Hunter-class gunship, to the underbelly of the _Aaru_, she prepared to dock with it when she noticed that the docking bay had been sealed off. Attempting to hail the command deck, she received only static in return, and finally decided to attempt to dock with the other ship.

Flying by the side of the _Von Braun_, Samus stared carefully in hopes of finding a possible point of entrance. After what seemed like an eternity, she found what she was looking for. Attached to the sides of the ship, nearly hidden from view, she saw several access points from what once most likely hosted escape pods. Bringing her ship to a stop over one of them, she had it magnetically lock onto it before she exited the ship.

Clad in full power armor, she was a sight to behold. Making her way into the access point, she slid down and then commanded her ship to lower itself, sealing the area she was in. Turning her attention back to getting herself into the ship, she fired a missile from her arm cannon, blowing a sealed door. Had her ship not lowered itself beforehand, the atmosphere within the room beyond the door would have been sucked out into space as it depressurized. Sliding her way through this newfound opening, she found herself now onboard the once magnificent _Von Braun_.

Noting her surroundings, she saw that for the most part that everything within the room at least was in total disrepair with the dust of the ages coating nearly every available space, as well as several pieces of machinery tossed about and even jutting out of the very walls themselves. Whoever had left the ship had apparently done so in a hurry, though why she did not know.

As she moved towards the nearest door, she saw that it had been heavily damaged, and just as she prepared to open it she noticed something in the corner of the room, a body. Spinning about, arm cannon at the ready, she fully checked the room, and upon seeing no potential threats, moved herself slowly to the corpse. As she scanned the body of the fallen GF Marine, her sensors told her that the wound to the side of his head had been self-inflicted, and that he had been dead for over a week. Kneeling beside him, Samus reached for the side of his bloodied visor and removed a small chip. If she was correct, the chip would contain a recording of everything that had occurred since he had been onboard the ship.

Rising, she inserted the chip into her helmet and then turned towards the damaged door and unsealed it, all awhile her suit had begun to decrypt whatever was on the chip so that she would at least have some idea as to what had happened onboard the ship.

She knew that she was going to need every scrap of information she could get if she was going to succeed on this mission.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

Samus slowly made her way down a decrepit hallway that was marred by energy burns and strewn with debris, when she came upon large amounts of dried blood. Readying her arm cannon, she inched her way forward, prepared for any possible attempt to ambush her. After walking about a dozen feet down the hallway, she came across a series of claw marks that scarred the walls and floor, all of which were surrounding a severed arm which lay in the center of the floor. Without the suits energy source attached to it, the armor that covered the arm was a mere dull grey, save for the numerous splotches of dried blood.

Samus slowly looked about, and saw that there was no sign of the marine that it belonged to, a fact that troubled her. Only an animal would have taken a body, but even then there would have been more visible signs of this. The fact that the ship appeared to have been abandoned for some time, and how heavily armed the marines were seemed to also cast doubt on a wild creature having attacked them, but if it was not that, then what could it, or more likely they, have been?

At that moment her suit indicated that the chip had been debugged, though some data corruption had occurred due to the nature of the marine's wounds. Before she activated the chip, however, she made sure to seal the door at the end of the hallway in case whatever had been their beforehand decided to come back while she was in the middle of watching the recording. Activating her visor, the chip began playing everything that the marine had seen since his departure onto the ship.

As the recording began, Samus began to see the events that had occurred from the dead marines point of view. Three full squads of six men each, not including the one he was in, stood alongside the marine, waited as a hole was cut through the _Von Braun_'s hull by two technicians with plasma welders. A brief moment of static occurred, indicating a moment of data corruption, and was followed by all the men standing around a central hub. The squads had secured the area and were preparing to follow their individual missions as soon as they were given. At that moment, their radios went off, the captain of the ship preparing to give out orders. "Men, Alpha squad is to return power to ship, and two energy cells have been provided to accomplish this task. Once completed, Beta squad is to search for the location of the biosigns. Meanwhile, Gamma squad is to remain here and secure the area as a base of operations. Finally, Delta squad is to search the second ship and perform a sweep on all levels. You have your missions, Richards signing out."

Another section of static occurred, followed by the marine and the rest of his squad, apparently Alpha as two of them had energy cells attached to their back, within a smaller area encircling a computer system. As they began to examine some of the wreckage, one of them came across a human skeleton. One of the men kneeled beside it, and said "Well this proves it. This ship was definitely built by human hands." A sudden scratching caught his and the others attention, and they all turned as several parasites, a breed of insect-like vermin native to Tallon IV, scurried back into the shadows as they realized they had been spotted by what they thought were potential predators.

"Damn bugs, I thought they said they exterminated them all back on the ship! I hope they don't mess up the signals Beta squad is searching for." He then rose up, firing a shot in order to scatter the pests as they attempted to reenter the room. Then checking the energy cell on his back, he headed towards the nearby ladder. "Be right back, gonna see if I can reactivate the computer system. If I don't come back up in ten minutes, Johnson, you come down and see what happened."

One of men nodded at this. "Whatever you say Scott, we'll secure the perimeter in the meantime." After Scott vanished down the ladder, Johnson headed towards one of entranceways and then stopped, staring at what used to be a security camera. "Hey... does this thing look like someone shot at it?"

Before he could receive an answer, the lights came on and several screens activated, showing a pale blue cybernetic face. At this time Scott climbed back up the ladder, just as the multiple screens began to flicker on and off. A robotic, yet distinctly male voice rang out, saying "_Th- Th- This is Xer- Xerxes. Systems are- are currently at- at- at critical levels. Maintenance is re- required. May the- may the- may the glory of- of the Ma-._" The voice faded at the end, followed by the screens shutting down.

"Man, looks like something hacked its mainframe pretty bad. I'm afraid that's all we'll be getting out of it. We should move on and complete our mission." said Scott, who then began to lead the group out of the area. Another mass of static occurred, indicating a rather large amount of data corruption.

The next thing Samus saw was the group standing before a sealed door, one of their number was now missing and the rest of them bore scars and burns on their armor. Two of them, Johnson and an unidentified marine, were opening fire at some unseen threat while Scott was communicating with someone on the other side of the door.

"Open this door marine, were being swarmed here. They've gotten O'Brian and now they're after us. OPEN THIS DOOR! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Whoever had been on other side of the door apparently had locked it, Samus guessed. After a moment had passed, a marine, his helmet gone and his face bloodied, appeared. A crazed look in his eyes, he screamed "HOW DO I KNOW YOUR NOT ONE OF THEM! They got us... they got us all... but not me... not me. They took over them, pretended to be them, but they weren't... they weren't. They killed all the others... now they're after me! I can hear them in my head, they say things to me, many things. They want me to join them, to join their flesh. I can't take it anymore... I can't take it... I know what you are... I won't let you take me. I'll make sure of that." A look of relief filled his face as he then raised a detonator.

As soon as it was visible, Scott turned around and grabbed the nearest marine and threw him to floor as he yelled "HIT THE DECK!" just as a massive explosion shook the ship. They then quickly rose and ran to the door and stared out the window as the _Rickenbacker_, now detached, floated slowly away from the _Von Braun_.

Once again static overcame the visuals, followed by a last scene of the marine running away from some unseen terror, turning around only once to fire blindly at his pursuer as it tore apart one of his companions, and finally locking himself in the very room Samus had found him in.

Just as Samus deactivated the chip, she froze. She could just hear something that was scratching on the other side of the sealed door at the end of the hallway. As she slowly raised her arm cannon, the scratching sound grew louder as others of its kind joined whatever was on the other side of the door. A roar then emanated from behind the door, and the multiple scratching sounds stopped immediately. Something much larger began to slam itself against the door, denting it as it did. It would only be a matter of time before the door would break completely.

Steadying her arm cannon, she took aim. Whatever they were, Samus was ready for them.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

As Samus steadied her arm cannon, the rhythmic pounding coming from behind the sealed door continued before suddenly and unexpectedly stopping. As she slowly lowered her weapon, unsure of what to make of the situation, a claw burst through the door's plating. Appearing to be made of writhing, slimy flesh, it dragged its elongated nails on the inner side of the door, digging deep gashes into it that matched those that dotted the entire tunnel. As the claw retracted into the whole, something scurried out of it, followed by another, then five, then by more than 20 others.

Resembling the parasites of Tallon IV, they crawled forth with great speed and determination. Unlike the parasites, however, these organisms appeared to have a thicker exoskeleton, sharper claws, and were nearly three times the size of vermin Samus remembered fighting on an old abandoned Space Pirate frigate, the _Orpheon_. As they screeched and snarled, Samus unleashed a flurry of power beam shots at them. She quickly saw that she was in trouble when it required three to four shots to take down just one of the creatures whereas the ones she had fought in the past went down with only a single one.

Switching the beam in her arm cannon, she began to fire bolts of superheated plasma which ignited the beasts, yet whenever one fell three more quickly took its place within seconds, crawling over their fallen companions charred corpses in order to do so. Charging her beam, she then waited for them to get closer, and just as one of the parasites leapt at her she unleashed her attack.

Instead of sending out a charged blast of plasma, she unleashed a scorching wave of flames that filled the entire hallway, incinerating numerous parasites within seconds. After five seconds of continued fire, she stopped the attack in order to see the extent of the damage she had dealt. Numerous blackened corpses, some still aflame, littered the ground. None of the swarm had survived.

As she began to relax, a sudden clanging caught her attention. Looking up, she saw the door fall forward, crunching several parasites as it did, and reveal a hulking humanoid standing behind it. The monstrosity, which almost appeared to lack skin, let loose a threatening roar and then charged forward, raising one of its bloodstained claws as it did.

Samus fired a missile that struck the creature dead center in its head. Instead of faltering, the creature continued to rush through the cloud of smoke that arose from the explosion and swung forth, sending Samus flying backwards. Smashing into a wall, she quickly rose to her feet and raised her arm cannon once more. Her vision temporarily blurred by the strike, she was still able to see the beast clear enough to launch a barrage of missiles at it.

Striking home, the onslaught of missiles tore apart the monstrosity, leaving nothing but smoking ruin where it once was. Unrecognizable now, its flesh gave one last pulse of life, quivering where it lay, before going completely still.

Samus slowly walked over to where the thing had fallen, holding her bruised side with her one free hand as her armor began to perform repairs to the damage the creature had caused. Activating her scan visor, she scanned it, though the creature did not match any known life form in the GF database, and its DNA had been too badly damaged for further analysis. Turning to the smaller creatures, she scanned one that appeared to be in relatively fine condition compared to its many crispy brethren.

While the creatures appeared to physically resemble the parasites of Tallon IV, their genetics indicated that they contained the DNA of another organism mixed in with their own. Closer analysis revealed that this DNA slightly resembled that of Earth's annelids, but only on a basic level. Whatever this organism was, it had been heavily modified on a genetic level.

The thought that this organism had been part of a trap set by the Space Pirates instantly crossed Samus' mind. Perhaps they had left these organisms onboard the ship in order to wipe out anyone who came across it. There was one flaw with this idea, though. If the Space Pirates had set this trap, where were they? They would never pass up such a valuable prize like the _Aaru_.

She knew that she would have to worry about this later, and that for now she would have to search for possible survivors. Walking through the space where the door once existed, she pushed forward before reaching another door. Finding herself within a room filled by a chasm and a walkway, she began to walk across when the ground beneath her began to give. Leaping back, she watched on as the walkway broke and vanished into the darkness. Undeterred, she merely jumped the gap and soon found herself back on schedule.

As she entered the next area, she passed the wrecked remains of what appeared to be a rather bulky security bot. Paying it little thought, she pushed on down the corridor, and thanks to a location marker on the floor, knew that she was about to enter the officers' area of the ship.

As she slowly entered the room, she noticed a trail of dried blood that passed a nearby pool table and continued on around a corner across from it. Following it, she rounded the corner and nearly bumped into a bloodied marine. Apparently having not noticed her entering the room, he now turned towards her with a slow, almost unnatural speed.

Samus was surprised at first to see that his arm was missing, and quickly concluded that he must have been in the hallway where she had been ambushed. What surprised her more was the fact that the fleshy stub where his arm had been had not yet been tended too, nor had the numerous cuts and scars that penetrated his armor, as well as an unusually shaped hole. Still silent, he seemed intent to stare as Samus questioned him, asking, "Have you received medical attention yet? Where is the rest of your squad?"

Instead of answering her questions, he groaned slightly and then said, "_We have joined the symphony of the Many. It is glorious._"

Before Samus could question him about what he had meant by this, possibly thinking that the combination of both the shock of losing his arm and the blood loss he had suffered had made him delusional, he swung his weapon and nearly hit her in the head had she not leaped back to avoid the blow. Raising her arm cannon, she managed to keep her distance from him, unsure of why he had attempted to attack her.

Limping forward, he merely said "_I'm... sorry... please kill... me._" and then raised his weapon. Firing a round of projectiles, he only narrowly missed his target as she skillfully dodged it while quickly closed the distance between them at the same time. Swinging her gauntleted fist, she nailed him straight in the gut in an attempt to subdue him. As he stumbled backwards, Samus quickly pinned him against the wall with her one free arm.

"Stand down!" she ordered with a militaristic tone.

Instead of answering, a gurgle emanated from his throat as something made its way through his body. With a bloody spurt, a small worm-like animal burst from the side of his neck, breaking the armor as it did so, and let loose a threatening squeal as it realized its host was done for. Samus instantly slammed her arm cannon against it, crushing it against the wall before it could escape. As its blood slowly dripped down, the marine gave a slight sigh of relief and said, "_Thank... you._" before collapsing to the floor, dead.

He had been freed.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

Samus kneeled beside the fallen marine. When the worm had burst through the flesh and armor around his neck, it had ruptured his helmet in the process and shattered his visor. Getting a better look at the man, she saw that his flesh had taken on a sickly yellowish tone, and numerous blister-like protrusions covered his skin. What appeared to be large, bloody tumors could be seen along the side of the head, surrounding what appeared to be an incision that led towards the man's brain. It almost appeared to Samus that the man had been ravaged by a vicious disease, though what kind she had no idea.

A quick scan indicated that his genetics had been altered, and that the worm she had crushed had been the cause. Whatever the organism was, it was both capable of and had been itself heavily modified on a genetic level. Her scans were also able to tell her that this was not a natural occurrence, and that the organism had been 'tampered' with.

A sudden clanging caused her to spin around, just allowing her to see several parasites, all apparently unaltered, fleeing from some as yet unseen menace. Prepping her arm cannon, she took aim as over a dozen more of the transformed parasites appeared. Giving up on their chase of their lesser ancestors, they saw a new target to attack. Swarming forward, they appeared to screech in anger as they noticed the dead marine.

Unlike her last encounter with them, Samus was ready for them and had already formulated a plan. As they began to crawl over the pool table in the center of the room, a trio of missiles slammed into it and exploded them into a thousand bloody bits.

The area secure for now, she moved down a nearby passageway and found herself in a multi-level room with a large elevator in its center. Seeing no entrance onto it, she then noticed a nearby lift in the corner of the room. Hitting the switch next to it, she waited for the lift to move. When it didn't, most likely due to lack of maintenance and extreme age, she hit the switch again, and only just managed to leap off when the lift collapsed and clattered on the floor below.

Having no other options to continue, she jumped down to the floor below via the now open lift access. Making her way into the central elevator, she hit another switch and hoped that it would work better than the lift she had tried just a few moments before.

With a jolt the elevator began to rise, just as the door behind her closed and, much to her disdain, another, much larger, swarm of mutated parasites charged her from all directions. Luckily, the door closed just as the first few of them made their way to it, crushing them instantly. This forced the rest of the swarm to start climbing along the metal supports of the elevator, separated from Samus by a thick layer of glass. As they dispersed along the ceiling, unable to follow her any longer, a louder screeching sound told her that part of the swarm must have just finished chewing their way through the sealed door and were now climbing up the shaft.

As she prepared for combat, a sudden jolt nearly caused her to lose her balance. Realizing the elevator was about to fall, and that the top of it was less than a dozen feet away, she leaped up. As the elevator collapsed below her, a sudden crunching followed by numerous squeals indicated to her that a good portion of the swarm had just been crushed. The next thing she heard was a loud crash that boomed throughout the area, and a mere glance by Samus showed her that the bottom of the elevator had been blocked off. While a boon for now, she knew that she would eventually need to find another way down.

Walking down the only hallway on the level she was now on, she passed another bulky green security bot, though unlike the last one, it appeared to have been recently tampered with. The thought of possible survivors filled her mind with hope, but the sensation was brief when something spoke inside her head with a multitude of voices.

"_Why do you resist? Why do you not join our chorus? You and your kind view us as a threat, and murder our young. We will not allow this. Soon you and your kind shall embrace the joys of our unity._"

As the multiple voices faded away, Samus held onto her head as the ache in her brain slowly vanished. Unsure of what had just happened, she continued on, hoping to not have the process repeated anytime soon.

As she rounded a corner, she found herself within the command deck of the ship. As she passed numerous computers and similar machines, most of which were shut down even with the power restored to the ship, she encountered several bodies that caught her attention. While definitely human in origin, they appeared to have had been heavily modified with cybernetics and were clothed in a strange black armor. Before she could ponder the identities of these ancient casualties, a pair of footsteps caught her attention. Turning around, she found herself facing a pair of marines, their armor broken and bloodied. Both raised their weapons directly at Samus menacingly. They were infected.

"_Your flesh betrays you._"

Samus rolled aside as a barrage of energy blasts bombarded the spot where she had just been. She quickly retaliated and fired a charged blast that knocked the chest plate off the closer of her two assailants, revealing blister-covered skin with an exposed chest cavity. Seemingly unfazed, he continued to open fire before a second blast fried his insides and sent him flying backwards into a computer.

As Samus took aim at his partner, a series of shots suddenly struck it from behind, causing it to collapse face forward. Looking towards the source of the unexpected aid, Samus saw a third marine in front of what appeared to be a pair of lifts.

As she cautiously moved forward, the marine exclaimed, "Thank God, someone has finally come... where is the rest of the rescue party?"


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6_**

"So no one else came with you... this is not good." Having been briefed by Samus on what had led up to and including her short time aboard the ship, the marine, named Robert Reeds, had brought Samus to his hideout where he had been keeping away from the infected in hopes that help would soon arrive to rescue him. This hideout, located on the upper level of the command deck, was the location where the marine had been hiding over the last few days.

Now that his own wounds, which he had gained during a brief encounter with the same pair of infected marines a day earlier, had been tended too, he prepared to tell Samus what had occurred to him and his fellow marines since their arrival to the _Von Braun_. First, however, he then pulled out a small holographic map of the interior of the ship, created from scans taken before they had boarded it. Motioning to an area that appeared to be a 'crossing road' between several different paths, he began his story. "It seemed like a simple mission, and I had just been reassigned to Beta squad. We were to locate the source of the biosigns aboard the ship and, if they proved to belong to sentient life forms, provide whatever aid we could if they did not prove hostile."

Motioning with his finger, he traced a path to a small area onboard the ship. "We first followed our sensors to what appeared to be a garden, though I doubt that could have accurately describe it. For some reason the area was still receiving water, light, and nutrients. Whatever the reason was, and with who knows how much time of unheeded growth, the area was literally a jungle. The biosigns we detected, however, did not belong to the plants there so we continued on after taking a few scans."

Moving his finger once again, he traced a path leading to another section of the ship. "Eventually we made our way to what appeared to be the med center where we found a room filled with cryo-chambers. The area appeared to have had sustained some damage, and looked to have had been rebuilt in a hurry. For what reason we didn't know, but we did know that the life signs came from several of the tubes. Upon opening them, we found several strange black eggs that were more than a meter tall. While we were in the middle of performing some scans on them, one them suddenly hatched, releasing several worm-like organisms. The first one to fall was Tyrone, the squad leader. The creature simply leaped onto him and then bored its way right through his armor and into his chest. He appeared to go into a coma, and before we could do anything else we then lost Jones and Dylan to the worms as well. We were forced to seal off the room in order to prevent the dozens of worms that now swarmed the area from escaping. The men who had been 'infected' eventually rose back up and opened what remained of the cryo-chambers before breaking down the door. As they proceeded to attack us, they mentioned something about the 'glory of the Many'. In the confusion I found myself separated from the others. I soon made my way here where I was ambushed by two of the infected, and was forced to hide here. I thought I was a goner until you showed up."

A clanking sound caused Samus to turn, raising her arm cannon as she did. She lowered it when she saw the source, a rather gaunt humanoid robot that lay against a nearby wall, its chest wide open and its circuits revealed. Noticing that she had spotted it, Reeds headed over to the droid and pulled out a small welder and began to seal the opening on its chest. "I found this guy awhile ago, and I've been reprogramming it ever since. I've been performing a few repairs also, as well as a few 'upgrades'. Hopefully he will be able to open most of the locked doors aboard this ship so I can get back to the _Aaru_... hopefully. Strangest thing is, it almost appears as if he had been wired to explode before he broke down... I have no idea why someone would do that."

As he finished the last of the repairs, the droids began to stir once more, and several lights activated on it. "Greetings, this unit is ready to receive orders." The machine then began to walk, rather stiffly, forward. It headed onto the nearby gravitational lift and slowly descended to the floor below.

Reed then turned to Samus, and with his visor down; she could see the worried look on his face. "Speaking of the _Aaru_... I've lost all contact with the crew. I've tried radioing in for help, but all I've gotten so far is static. We need to see what happened, the crew may need assistance if these life forms have invaded the ship."

As Samus and Reed moved towards the lift, a small repetitive beep suddenly went off, causing them to both head towards the computer from where it originated. As Reed activated the machine, a voice, one Samus recognized, emanated from it. "This is Alpha squad captain James Scott. I have hacked into the ships communication systems and I'm currently in need of aid. I have escaped the hybrids and I am now located within a room near the central hub. I am now uploading the location on the map included with this message. They are coming for me, so time is of the essence. Please hurry." As the message faded, Reeds quickly activated the map provided and compared it with his own.

Samus glanced at the map for a moment, scanning it as she did. Turning towards Reeds, she said, "I'll go after him. You worry about getting back onto the _Aaru_. I'll meet up with you there."

----------------------

Slamming down onto the bottom of the elevator shaft, Samus was unharmed as her suit absorbed most of the impact. Seeing the large amount of debris, she curled into her morph ball form and planted a power bomb. Within seconds a powerful explosion not only destroyed the debris but shattered the glass panels surrounding the elevator as well.

Seeing no signs of the parasites, she then leaped back and forth along the edges of the elevator and made it back to the top. She then carried both Reed and his reprogrammed droid down the shaft. Dropping them off at the bottom, she then kept watch as both of her companions began to head off down a nearby hallway. She had fallowed them for a short while, but her destination eventually forced her to take a separate path.

She soon made her way to what appeared to by a tram room, and upon entering it, sealed the door behind her. Upon hitting a button located by a door, she soon felt reassured when the transportation device arrived, apparently surviving its years of disuse. As she boarded it and prepared to activate it, a ripping sound caught her attention.

The sound originated from sealed door she had passed through moments before, and from what she could tell it being torn apart like tissue paper. Not wanting to fight whatever it was if she could, she slammed a switch within the tram, forcing it to activate.

Just as it began to move, she saw the intruder. Resembling the mutated parasites from before, it was, however, much larger, almost the half the size of her own ship. As the monstrosity saw her, it unleashed an earsplitting squeal before charging, just missing her as the tram burst off down the tunnel. The creature attempted to follow her but found itself stuck in the doorway; its thick carapace holding it in place as it squealed in dismay, as it knew its prey had escaped.

Samus was safe... for now.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7_**

As the creature's squeals vanished, Samus felt the tram begin to slow down. When it came to a complete stop, she saw that she was now before a large room filled with a strange biomass that covered all the walls and pulsed with life. Dozens of large eggs filled the room, covering both the ceiling and floor wherever space was available. As if sensing her presence, their tops opened, releasing clouds of spores and numerous worms as well as small swarms of insect-like organisms. As they began to swarm towards her, Samus hit the tram switch once again, leaving the creatures far behind.

A sudden impact shook the tram, nearly causing Samus to fall to the floor. Looking out the tram window, she saw the residue of what remained of a wall of biomass begin to slide off it as more walls of the material could be seen ahead. The tram slammed through the walls, until it finally came to a stop at its destination. Exiting it, she then turned around and activated the tram once again, sending it back down the tunnel she was just in so that it would halt anything that had decided to follow her down it.

Moving onward, she encountered no resistance for some time. This came to an end when, while turning a corner, she saw several infected marines, or 'hybrids' as Scott had called them, walking down one of the hallways, some of them carrying similar eggs to those she had seen a short while ago. Waiting for them to move on, she froze when one of them stopped and looked in her direction. Holding her breath, she waited for it to then walk on and then made her move. Quickly boarding an elevator she needed, she hit the switch so as to get to the floor that Scott was on.

Now on the correct floor, she started to step out when several bursts of fire whizzed by her. Getting only a brief glimpse, she saw four hybrids near the other end of the room, using a pile of crates for cover. They had set up an ambush, and she had walked right into it.

Waiting a moment, she then leapt out of the elevator, firing several blasts from her plasma beam as she did. She managed to ignite one of the hybrids who then collapsed onto the floor in a writhing heap. The others barely gave notice to their fallen companion, though one said, "_You are free._" At this time Samus had now taken cover behind a crate, waiting for a clear shot. When she suddenly heard them closing in on her, she slammed her foot against the crate, causing it to knock one of her assailants over. Without skipping a beat, she fired a missile directly into the metal crate, causing it to explode in a mass of shrapnel that shredded what remained of the hybrids.

As she stood up, she watched on as the one and only intact worm detached itself from its host and attempted to slither off. Raising her foot, she brought it down with great force and crushed it with a satisfying splat.

The sudden sound of metal tearing caused her to turn around, just in time to see the massive mutant parasite from before, or one just like it, rip its way out of the floor and then charge her. The blow caught her off guard and sent her flying backwards, after which everything went black.

Regaining consciousness, Samus grabbed the side of her head as she looked about. She quickly saw that the creature had apparently decided not to pay her any attention, and was instead busy tearing into the corpses of the dead hybrids. Momentarily confused due to she believed they were on the same side, she scanned it while it swallowed a severed limb. The creature, while definitely along the same genetic lines of its smaller brethren, had a few modifications that separated it from them, such as a faster metabolism. She didn't need her scanner to tell her that it had a thicker exoskeleton, nor to tell her that its mandibles and claws would easily tear her apart. Her scanner did tell her, however, that it was somehow rapidly breaking down and then reconfiguring the biomatter it ingested into unidentifiable organic masses.

At this time it had finished the last of the corpses, after which it did something Samus had not expected. Raising its relatively thick tail, it revealed its soft, unarmored underside that resembled a mass of worms woven together. The flesh appeared to bubble for a moment, and then suddenly one of the smaller mutated parasites popped out of it, followed by dozens of its brethren. Only a foot in length, they quickly retreated down the nearby hole from which the bigger one had originally emerged from.

Now realizing that she was dealing with some sort of breeding unit, she slowly took aim, but her target noticed the motion. Letting out an earsplitting screech, it charged forward, forcing Samus to leap out of the way in order to dodge it. As she hit the ground, she fired several shots at its unprotected underside, causing the creature to squeal in pain. Undeterred, however, it lashed out with its tail and knocked Samus backwards into the room's central column, shattering a flickering panel of Xerxes. As exposed wires fell out of it and swung beside her, an idea came to her.

Firing several shots that merely bounced harmlessly off the breeder's carapace, they served only to anger it further. Letting out a screech, it charged forward just as Samus intended. Leaping over it, she heard it crash directly into the column. As it broke through the large amounts of circuitry that ran throughout it, it received a massive electrical shock that tore through its unprotected body before the ensuing explosion of the column tossed it backwards, temporarily stunned.

Not wasting the opportunity, Samus fired away at its exposed underbelly, damaging the soft flesh that made up it. Coming to, the breeder screeched and got back on its stomach. It then threw back its head and let out a longer howl that echoed throughout the area. Within seconds, Samus could hear the skittering associated with the ensuing arrival of the dozens of mutated parasites that were coming to protect their mother.

As they crawled into the room from every possible entrance, Samus fired away, but for every one she killed, many more would soon arrive to take its place. Realizing that the situation was quickly deteriorating, she knew she would have to act fast in order to survive. A risky idea occurred to her, and turning towards the breeder, she charged it. Leaping over the piles of dead corpses and dodging the parasites that leapt at her, her arm cannon began to reconfigure itself as the breeder opened its mandibles wide, ready to bite through its assailant. As it lurched forward, she caught it by surprise by shoving her arm cannon down its throat. As it gagged for a moment, she sealed its fate by firing a super missile directly into its guts.

A dull boom resonated from within the breeder's body as sprays of thick blood squirted from numerous cracks that rapidly formed all over its carapace. As it's abdomen exploded in a mass of gore and its head slumped forward, dead, the surviving parasites instantly squealed in pain and then fled the area. Victory was hers.

Pulling her gore covered arm cannon out of the bloodied mandibles of the beast, she was assaulted once more by the telepathic voices. "_You have killed the Queen Mother. Her voice is now forever silenced from our chorus. Why have you done this? Your actions continue to confound us. However, we still grant you a place in our unity, though you should not test our hospitality. It is not infinite._"

As the voices faded once more, Samus grabbed her head as the pain they left behind remained. Once it had passed, she checked the ship's map that she had scanned earlier and then headed towards the room where Scott said he was holding out within.

As she passed through a pair of doors, pools of dried blood unsettled her, especially with the thoughts of whom it belonged to. Stepping over several hybrid corpses and dozens of parasite corpses, she then passed through the final doorway where she saw Scott, or more accurately, what remained of him. Lying in the center of the room, his midsection and lower body gone, and on either side of him rested the bodies of the large fleshy humanoids like that of the one she had fought before, though these ones were riddled with energy burns, implying that he hadn't gone down without a fight.

Though his death disheartened her, what truly concerned her was the fact that he appeared to have been dead for some time, and that this room had been the location of his final stand. Suddenly, to her surprise, the room's lights went off as the door behind her sealed shut.

At that moment, an ominous cybernetic laugh echoed throughout the entire room.


End file.
